A Diamond in the Rough
by reitsuji
Summary: Claire, a girl from the city, moves into the small farm of Mineral Town for a change of scenery, and to give her life a second chance. Meeting Gray may have made her regret her decision of coming to Mineral Town, but things change, for the better or worse. Rated T for language and themes later on in the story. Cliffaire and Grary in the beginning. Later turns into Graire.
1. Glares and Grudges

**A/N:** This isn't my first time writing a fanfic, but I do believe this is my second time posting fanfic online, and my first here ;;; I'm not much of a writing, since I'm more of a drawing person ;; But I do get some random spurts of idea for my OTPs that I can't express through drawings ;;  
Lately I got back into Harvest Moon, and now looking at it through the eyes of a 15 y.o. fangirl instead of an 11 y.o., I got really into ships and Harvest Moon itself and I have been reading a lot of Gray x Claire fanfics so, why not make my own? I've got a few ideas myself, so yeah.

**ABOUT THE STORY NOW;**  
The Graire fluff won't appear until later. There will be more Grary and Cliffaire (?) than Graire in the beginning because (this was me trying to decide between Gray and Cliff) drama will be interesting, don't you think?  
Anyway, I tried to pace myself in this fanfic, because I have a bad habit of going straight to the point in the beginning of fanfics, but I hope it's alright!  
Constructive criticism is always welcome!  
Currently rated 'T' due to strong language. (sorry)

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_I still can't believe that lousy man this town calls a mayor tricked me into buying this farmland! I ABSOLUTELY _**_CAN NOT _**_BELIEVE IT!_

A blonde bundle of hay like hair flutters in the air before lightly floating back down as the owner slams down a heavy axe on to the wooden stump.

THUNK.

_I use up all the money I had earned back at the city and buy this, supposedly BEAUTIFUL farmland for a change of scenery, and I get this crap.  
UNBELIEVABLE._

The axe is slammed down once again on to the stump; this time splitting it in half.

The blonde owner heaved a sigh as she plopped herself down onto the grass.

_It's been two weeks since I moved here, even if I had money to return to my previous life, I have no place to return to. I might as well stick to my word and try bring back the so called 'beautiful farm'. I mean, I did end up agreeing with that scumbag of a mayor to look after this farm. I only agreed to do it for the heck of it though. Who knew that looking after a farm would be so hard…_

_…_

"Oh, who am I kidding? Of course it's gonna be hard, it's a freaking FARM, for crying out loud!" the blonde screamed aloud.

_Whoa, Claire, you might want to calm down a bit_, the blonde girl thought, after hearing her words echo in the valley below.

Sighing deeply, the blonde looked up at the sky, watching the clouds roll by.

_If only life just rolled on easily by, just like that_, Claire thought, closing her eyes to take a short nap.

"Hey." A voice called out.

One eye lazily opened, and she turned her head to the source of the sound. Slowly raising her head, she opened her other eye to a blurry figure in the foreground.

"If you have time to laze around and sleep all day, then you have time to tidy this place up. It looks like shit." The same voice called out in a dull manner. Claire recognised this dull voice. It was Gary, or Gray, whichever it was, whom she describes as 'the rude and annoying grandson of the blacksmith who just happens to have a lot of angst [and sass]'. She obviously couldn't be bothered to remember the male's name as his first impression made her not give a damn.  
His first impression stuck to Claire when she first met him two weeks ago. She had accidentally dropped the ore she was carrying, startling Gray, which caused the accessory he was currently working on to shatter into pieces. Naturally, due to his short temper, he was furious with Claire, and went absolutely ballistic on her. Claire did, however, take it upon herself to go over to Gray's quarters' and apologise. She had wasted her time doing that really. It was futile trying to apologise to a young man who acts like a teenage boy in his hormonal stages. During the time she was trying to apologise to him, he just kept quiet, and when he had enough, he opened the door to say (more like shout) a simple 'shut up, you are so annoying' before slamming the door in Claire's face. His action obviously infuriated her (as well as humiliate, since his roommate was also there) as she threw curses at him and left the inn with a terrible mood.

"Well, excuuuuuse me! Mr Expert-Farmer! I'm sure you realise that I only arrived here two weeks ago and I still have not adjusted to this life. Not to mention that I have never lived or work on a farm before! Being relatively new here, I think you should cut me some slack here!" Claire shot back, as she stood up and putting her hands on her hips.

"On the other hand, what do you think you're doing, wondering into other people's properties?! Talk about rude and uncultured!" she added, hoping for the rusty haired male to leave her land.

"I know you're new. That's exactly why you shouldn't be lying around and slacking off. You're not setting a very good image of yourself, are you now? Especially for a newbie." Gray sighed. "As for rude and uncultured, I only came here to drop off the tools that you wanted upgraded. Of course, they are upgraded. So, I do believe you're the one being rude here, since I'm practically doing you a favour."

Claire expression remained the same, annoyed and beaten, as the male dropped off the sack, containing newly upgraded tools, in front of her. Of course, Claire said a small thanks. I mean, she has manners. She was taught proper etiquette by her family as a child, so it's only natural to offer thanks when you receive something for someone. Even if that person was being a rude shit.  
Upon dropping off the sack, the young lad gave the latter a cold glare, before turning and heading off elsewhere.  
As soon as he was out of hearing range, Claire started to badmouth Gray once again.

The same young lad had just exited the farm when he let out a long, low sigh of annoyance. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he gave a pissed off look from under his cap.

"How dare she be so cocky and rude?! And she only just got here? What a nerve that chick has!" giving a huff, he stormed back to the blacksmith, where he grabbed his belongings and headed towards the library. At the library, Gray would free himself of stress (although temporarily) in the world of books. It was the only place in the world that allowed him to do that. Other than smashing rocks in the mines, that is. The library wasn't nearly as effective as the mines, but it was definitely a lot less violent.

"Oh, Gray! Good afternoon." A petite young lady, about the age of 19, maybe 20 or 21, greeted Gray as he entered the library. Her voice was soft and quiet, like a mouse squeaking.

"…Afternoon…" Gray replied just as quietly as Mary spoke, not to disturb the level of peace that was in the library. He set down his belongings down on a table, and walked over to one of the bookshelves and grabbed a book about gems and other precious stones you could find in this town.

"How is your day so far?" Mary enquired softly.

"I've had better days," Gray answered, his eyes not leaving the book. "That new girl, whatever her name is, gets on my nerves. I can't stand her."

Mary gave a small giggle that made Gray's heart flutter a little.

"Isn't that what you always say to new people you meet? Or just to people in general?" she smiled sweetly, meaning no harm behind her words.

"Well yeah, but I swear to goddess! This girl, she's so… ARROGANT! She thinks she knows everything and lazes around! Ugh, she frustrates me so much!" he continued to whine, like a teenager blaming something on someone else.  
All Mary could do was laugh lightly.

"I think," Mary began, cutting Gray off in midst of his whines. "I think that Claire is wonderful."

"…you're kidding me, right…?" Gray's jaw dropped.

_How could that Mary think of that 'farmer' as a wonderful person when she is clearly the polar opposite? She couldn't have-! No, that wench must have brainwashed this poor innocent girl_, he thought.

"Mary…" Gray spoke slowly with a dark tone.

"Yes?" Mary chirped, not noticing the change in Gray's tone.

"Were you… Brainwashed by that farmer chick? Or was that your honest thoughts…?"

Mary giggled.

"Of course it's my honest thoughts! She's so hard working! You know, she's working hard to restore that farm, I can't help but look up to her and admire her!"

Gray stood there in shock to what he just heard come out of this librarian's mouth.

_She… Looks up to her…? What._

"…how. How is she hard working?" Gray asked questioningly as he continued to stare dumbfounded at the petite librarian. "She's nowhere near hard working! She lazes around and takes naps all the time. I mean, she was napping today, I saw! I bet she was pulling a front when you were there!"

Gray also felt it was necessary to curse and call Claire a 'bitch'.

"Ahh, so she took a nap, huh? She deserves it, I reckon." Mary smiled.

"W-why is that?" Gray replied, trying not to be rude.

"Well, you know this town and its residents. We like to see how we are doing by walking around and peering in other's properties. That sounds really creepy, I know, but that's how we do. Pretty much every single one of us, with the exception of you, Kai, Cliff and Doctor Trent, has seen her working all day, nonstop for the past two weeks. Of course she must be worn out."

All Gray could do was to stare at Mary with a stupid face, refusing to believe what he just heard.

"Plus, I heard that she gets up as early as 5am, starts working at 6am and finishes around 9pm. Something like that." Mary added, trying her best to prove to Gray that Claire was hard working.

"And how do you know this?" Gray was rather curious as to how Mary knew this information. Could she be making it all up? Or is it all real, as she says it is? Gray could never tell.

Mary gave a light laugh, bringing Gray from out of his thoughts.

"Silly Gray. My mother and her friends are the three gossiping musketeers of this small town. Of course I would know this. How could you forget such a fact? Especially since you've been living here for a few years now and…" Mary looked down at the counter, her cheeks steadily going from pink to red. "Well, we've been, um, dating for a while too…"

_That's right_, the lad thought. _We've been together for a few months now, although we haven't done anything intimate._

Not that anyone would expect them to. They weren't like Kai and Popuri, who would just start kissing and making out whenever they saw each other. Much to the dislike of Rick, Popuri's older brother. Rick always manages to catch them kissing or at least hear about what they did together, which infuriated him.

Every.

Time.

In fact, just hearing Kai's name sends him into a sudden blast of fury.

Mary and Gray, well, Mary wasn't really into the kissing scheme of relationships. Actually, it was more like she wasn't ready, as she always blushed at the thought of that ever occurring. Of course, Gray respected that and told her that he'd wait until she was ready.

"Right, how could I have forgotten?" Gray chuckled. "Although, I still think that she's a good for nothing, lousy wench."

"Whatever you say, Gray."

Once Gray made up his mind, it was hard changing it, unless something were to happen which completely changes his view of the farmer. Not like that was ever going to happen.  
Mary sighed and returned to her book. Gray did the same, leaving the library in total silence.


	2. Meeting Cliff

**A/N:** I just backspaced and deleted all of my author's note.

Screw me running/extrapointsifyougetthatreference

Basically, this chapter could've been better. Not so proud of it. Specially since I couldn't think of any juicy plot bunnies.  
Also, no updates 'til somewhere past Nov 13. My final exams are 28 Oct - 13 Nov, so I need to study like hardcore.  
Armageddon Expo is happening a few days before exams, and well, I'm going lol I'm planning to cosplay as APH Seychelles (but my mum doesn't know how to make the dress, even though it's rather simple)

**REVIEWS** (i swear if i stuff this up again)

**ScipioPB:** Thanks, I'm glad you think it's interesting as of now! Hopefully you will continue to like it as the story progresses c:

**Mnema:** Really? I hope all goes well for your fanfic! Is any of the chapters out yet, because I'm rather curious to read xD I'm glad that you too like this story so far! Do they? I'm glad, because I was going for a 'hate/hate relationship' in the beginning that slowly became 'love/love' instead of the typical 'hey we just met and i think we're made for each other let's get married' type of thing, y'know? Oh, and yes. My icon is my artwork! Haha, yes, that was also my favourite line, if I do say so myself xD When I typing out the previous bit, I thought of that line and I just _had_ to add it in xD I hope you continue to like this story in it's future chapters :D

Thanks for the reviews on the first chapter! I wasn't expecting any for the first one actually haha ;;; Ehmmmm, that's it really.

**SUMMARY**

Cliffaire-ish. Basically how Cliff and Claire met.

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Claire stood in front of the church. She had made it a habit to go there whenever she had time.

She opened the huge doors and walked in.

The church wasn't as big as the ones back in the city, but it was just as beautiful. Maybe even more.  
The tiles were polished and clean, making a tapping noise every time her heels made contact with the ground. Claire liked that sound, though. Especially how it echoed a bit inside the church. The wooden chairs looked quite worn, but had a chestnut glow when the sun hit them. It made Claire want to lie down and sleep on them. The glass on the windows looked vintage, having a tint of brown, instead of the normal colourless see-through glass. The windows further up, closer to the altar, had many different coloured glass, maintaining the vintage look. When the light shone through the coloured glass, different colours would glow faintly, giving the glass a rather gentle look. The window ledges themselves had small intricate designs, probably traditional designs belonging to this small town. The first time she came to the church, she couldn't pry her eyes away; the designs were just so beautiful. Looking at the walls of the church, candles lighted up the sides with a yellow flame, giving the building a warm, welcoming feeling.  
Claire liked it there. It was calm and peaceful.

Up ahead, Claire saw the pastor, Carter, talking to another young man.

"Carter! Good afternoon!" Claire exclaimed, half running, half skipping towards the pastor. She took out a wine bottle from her rucksack, and handed it to the smiling pastor. "Here, it's my treat!"

"Thank you, Claire. I don't get paid money, so gifts like these are always appreciated it," Carter's gave a hearty smile as he took the wine bottle out of Claire's hands. "May the Harvest Goddess look after your kind soul."

Claire beamed and turned to face the other young man sitting on one of the church's seats. He was tall, and looked rather tough and ragged, due to his long, dark brown hair tied up messily in a ponytail and his foreign clothing. That was just his appearance though. His personality was similar that to a sad, neglected puppy. He always wore the same sad expression, as if to burst in to tears at any moment. It was either looked like he was sad or he was worried. He would always mumble to himself, and when approached, he would start panicking. Quietly, of course.

"Hello Cliff, how are you today?" Claire said softly, walking over to the sullen male. As weird as it sounds, Claire felt like she was approaching a lost puppy or cat.

"Oh, Claire… Hello… I'm… fine, I guess…" Cliff responded meekly, shifting his gaze from the ground to the blonde walking towards him. He noticed that Claire was rummaging through her rucksack. "What's that?"

"Hm? Oh, this?" Claire took something out of her bag and held it in front of Cliff for him to take. "Just like I said I would yesterday, I got you grape juice! Take it, it's all yours!"

"But, I… You didn't… I mean, I didn't… Th-thank you…" Cliff smiled, accepting her offer. "You really didn't have to though…"

"Don't worry, it's fine! After all, our lives right now are currently in the same boat, right?" Claire giggled and sat on the seat next to Cliff. "We gotta stick together!"  
"Ahh, yes, that's true." Cliff mumbled, but spoke up a bit louder on the last two words.

Cliff also being an outsider made it a bit easier for Claire to talk to him, as she too, was new to this town. When she first met Cliff, it was during her first few days within being in the town. She had wondered into the church, hoping to find some directions, as she had thought that it was a splendid idea to explore the town. It was a splendid idea until she got lost and realised that she wasn't a very streetwise person. When she entered the church, of course, she was taken away by how gorgeous the church was.  
After Claire had managed to set her eyes of the church's structures, she introduced herself to Carter, who immediately told her that she should talk to the young lad sitting on one of the church benches. Carter had told Claire that said young lad was also new to this town, and was quite lonely. When Claire tried to approach him, he started to become anxious and nervous, visible by his slight trembling.

"Oh, u-uh… H-Hello there…" he was shaking.

Cocking her head at to one side, Claire asked, "You… okay there? Everything alright?"

"Uh… Y-Yeah… I'm fine…" Cliff was obviously not fine, as he was shaking a more than when she approached him. "Actually… N-no… I'm not… Oh dear Goddess… I'm just nerv-nervous… I haven't talked to… much people… in a while… Oh Goddess… I'm too nerv—"

"Hey. Just relax. Calm down, you'll be fine." Claire squatted down and gently whispered as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Just breathe in and out… You'll be just fine."

Doing as he was told, Cliff took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself, much to the delight of the blonde.

"See, I knew you could do it!" Claire smiled as she patted the lad's shoulder. It gave his ego a bit of boost of confidence.

"So you're new too?" Claire asked. Cliff replied with a nod, not saying a word. The two sat in silence. Well, Cliff sat and Clair was still squatting.

"S-so... What's your name?" she asked quietly, taking a seat next to Cliff, who shuffled over to make space.

"Oh... I'm..." Cliff cleared his throat. "I'm Cliff..."

"Cliff, huh?" Claire extended her arm towards the male, holding her hand out for Cliff to shake. "I'm Claire. I'm new around here."

All Claire received was a blank stare from the young man as he shook her hand. Breaking the silence, she said, "I hear you're new here as well?"

Upon seeing Cliff's 'yes-how-did-you-know' facial expression, she told him that Carter had told her.

"Oh, is that so..." Cliff mumbled, but attempted to speak up a bit. "Yeah, I'm new... I... Are you the one who bought the farm?"

Claire nodded. "Yep, that's me! I just arrived a few days ago though..."

"I see..."

There was another silence.

"I, um, I kinda got lost while exploring this town... I was wondering... Do you know the way to this place...?" Claire showed cliff a map and pointed to the one and only store in the whole town.

"Oh, the store. It's just down this road... I can show it to you..." Cliff said. He had arrived in Mineral Town a while earlier than the farmer, so he knew where everything was. "Oh! I mean, that is... If you want me... to show you... then I can..."

Claire smiled brightly. "Thank you Cliff. I would love your help."

Cliff escorted the young lady to the store and helped her carry seeds back to her farm. He also offered to help her sow dirt and plants seeds, to which Claire replied to saying that she could do it herself. Cliff ended up playing with her puppy, Drew, for the entire time that Claire worked on her farm. After her work was done, Claire exhaustedly plotted herself down next to Cliff. Her stomach grumbled and she looked at her watch. It had just hit 1:30pm.

"Are you hungry Cliff?"

Cliff glanced at Claire, then back at the puppy that he was holding. "I guess so… yeah."

"Well then! Let's go eat!" Claire jumped up and pulled him up as well. Cliff cringed. He wasn't used to being handled with so much force. Nor did he like it very much.

"Oh… I'm sorry… I shouldn't have done that… Sorry about that…" Claire had noticed his expression as she pulled him up, and immediately felt guilty of her actions.

"No no no—it's fine!" he rubbed the nape of his neck, avoiding eye contact with Claire.

"Even if you say so… I'm still sorry…"

Cue awkward silence.

"Let's go, shall we?" Claire exclaimed, scaring the life out of poor Cliff. Cliff nodded, and they walked towards the inn. Despite Claire's attempts of trying to keep a conversation going with Cliff, a deafening silence would keep ensuing after Cliff had replied. The farmer found it rather, awkward to say the least. In the end, she did manage to keep a conversation with the brunet, lasting the rest of the walk to the inn.

Upon entering the inn, they were greeted with the upbeat smiles of a certain red head.

"Welcome to the inn!" she bobbed her head playfully as she took full account of the guests that had just walked through the doors. "Oh, hello Claire! And if it isn't Cliff! What brings you two here together on this lovely afternoon?"

_Is it just me, or is Ann wearing a slightly suspicious grin right now, or…?_ Claire thought to herself. _Perhaps I'm just hallucinating…_

She wasn't hallucinating though. The bouncy red head dressed in her usual blue overalls with her plain yellow shirt underneath, wore an odd expression on this peculiar day. Her expression resembled more of a smirk, than of a smile. Usually she had a friendly smile as she welcomed guests warmly, but her current expression was more than enough to make the two exchange glances worriedly. Whatever ideas this girl had, it was never good. Ever.

"Ann… what are you thinking?"

Claire was brave enough to speak up and ask Ann what was going on.

"Oh nothing~"

_This girl… Thinks she can hide things from me. She and I both know she's cunning. I may have just met her a few days ago, but I will find out what she is thinking. I can never tell what exactly she's up to though_, a defeated Claire sighed deeply as Ann pushed (more like dragged) the two to a table, and left shortly after, leaving the two to their thoughts.

Ann came back after a few minutes with a pad and pen.

"So what do you want?" She pulled on her signature smiled. Claire ordered the daily special, which was cheese fondue accompanied by grape juice, which Cliff got the usual curry rice.

Ann left again and entered the kitchen, most likely going to help make the food alongside her father, the inn keeper, Doug.

The red head didn't emerge from the kitchen until she had actually finished making the two dishes. She walked over to Cliff and Claire and gracefully put the two platters on the table, the cutlery following.

"Bon appetite, my dear friends. When you're done, just leave the dishes there." Ann took the gold that Claire held out in her hand and counted them before she smiled briefly and left.

It took the two young adults around 20 minutes to eat their meals and as they were instructed to, they left their dishes where they were. Claire left a tip, as she thought that the food Ann and Doug made was delicious. Especially the cheese fondue. The way the cheese would melt in her mouth, _delicious_. Just simply delicious. She never had anything that tasted so good in her life. So it was natural that she would leave a tip.

Cliff and Claire parted ways in front of the inn's door. They waved each other goodbye, saying that it was actually fun, and that they should do it again. Claire thought he must've forgotten about what happened earlier. That, or he had forgive her. Either way she was relieved. She didn't want someone hating her so soon. She turned on her heels and headed back to her farm.

Cliff and Claire had been talking for about an hour or so about many different topics. By now, they were quite comfortable with each other. Well, Cliff was beginning to be.

"Oh would you look at the time." Claire had taken a glance at her watch. It was nearing 5pm and she still needed to do some stuff before she turned in for the day later.

"I gotta run. Still got some things to finish." She stood up, ready to leave. "Make sure you enjoy that grape juice now!"

A small smile appeared on the man's face. "Thank you, Claire. I will."

Back at the farm, Claire was rummaging through her drawers, grabbing a change of clothes and a towel. What for? So that she could take a relaxing bath at the hot springs. It was quite troublesome for Claire, as she didn't own a bath tub or shower at the very least. That was how small her house was. In fact, it was so small, it didn't even contain a kitchen. Just a table, bed, TV and bookshelf. The bare necessities for Claire to survive. This was the reason why she went to the inn for meals and the hot springs for bathing every day. She did hope to get a bath or shower installed and a kitchen made soon. After all, she did find it both troublesome and tiring trudging up a hill just to bathe and trudging back down to put away towels and used clothing before going to the inn. And as much as she loved Ann, whom she quickly befriended and became close to within the past two weeks, Claire could feel her money slowly draining away. Claire sniffed and faked a tear at her realization of this. Soon she would have to live off water, which was free.

_Well, it's free, but bland_, she reminded herself. She wasn't one for blandness. She preferred things with taste, flavor and personality.

Claire found herself conversing with herself in her mind.

_This was not a good sign_, she thought. _Whenever I start talking to myself, something's bound to happen. I can't _wait_ to see what's gonna occur _this _time._

**_Don't we all?_**

_…_

Claire definitely wanted to take that bath she really wanted as soon as possible. She really wanted to rid her mind of these conversations taking place. She glanced at her watch. It was twenty past five. If she left now, she would be at the hot springs by half past. She would finish around quarter to six; six at the very latest, if she was feeling lazy. Since Claire was meeting up with Ann and some of the other girls, she had to be at the inn around 6:45. That meant she would have around half an hour to walk back to her home, drop off stuff and walk to the inn. She took another look at her watch. 5:22. Claire clicked her tongue and rubbed her temples. During the time that Claire was calculating how long it would take to do everything, she kept checking the time. This gave her headaches if she did it repeatedly. She didn't have a clock yet so she had to rely on her watch. What do you expects? She's poor.

Claire sighed, and left her house, intent on taking that long bath of hers.


End file.
